My Role as the Teacher

If you have chosen to educate your children at home, what do you believe your role is as a teacher?  Do you merely go through the motions of following a prescribed set of course work for the curriculum you've chosen? What made you choose one curriculum over another?

When we have determined our philosophy of education, we must then decide exactly what our role is as our child's primary academic instructor.  I've learned over the past several years that compartmentalizing "school" from "real life" isn't reality. As Christians we don't take off our "Christian-ness" when we leave church, so as the primary educator of our children we never step out of the "educator" role.  It just continues on regardless of where we find ourselves at any given moment.  Even when our children are grown with children of their own, we still maintain a unique role as "teacher" as we advise them on different aspects of parenting or marriage. 

If you are a parent then you are a teacher, no special certification required.

This next part, I am sharing with you what I believe my role is as the "Teacher".  In the posts to follow I will break down my beliefs on each subject within the aspects of curriculum.  

My Role as the Teacher

My role as the primary teacher to my children is to create an environment for learning and package the information in a manner which they can comprehend.  I will be instructing my children in all subjects and through all grade levels, which will allow me to personally know each of their different learning styles, their strengths and their weaknesses. 

The most important task as the primary educator to my children is to impart to them a Biblical worldview.  This worldview “teaches that the real purpose for our existence is to know God” and that the “purpose of an education is to know our Creator better” (Wayne, 2000, p.16).  In the context of this form of education comes a high responsibility to ensure that all subjects are taught from a Christian perspective.  

Curriculum and Instruction

The ideal curriculum, in my opinion, is one that is intellectual, moral, and religious.  Education is inherently religious and therefore all curriculum will be based on some form of religion.  The curriculum I choose to use is based on Reformed Christian Theology, which is greatly influenced by theologians such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Dr. Cornelius Van Til, and the like.  Character building will be taught from a Biblical perspective, emphasizing how to love and obey God, and then to love and serve other people with their knowledge and skills.  The concepts I teach are applicable and practical for real life skills because “theory doesn’t do us much good until we have learned to apply it to the tasks of everyday life” (Wayne, 2000, p.28).

Wayne, I. (2000). Homeschooling from a biblical worldview. Wisdom’s Gate, MI: Covert.